Wheeling High School

This article is about the public high school in Wheeling, Illinois. For the high school in Wheeling, West Virginia, see Wheeling Park High School.
Wheeling High School
Address
900 S. Elmhurst Rd.
Wheeling, Illinois 60090
United States
Coordinates 42°07′34″N 87°56′21″W / 42.1262°N 87.9392°W / 42.1262; -87.9392
Information
School type public secondary
Opened 1964
School district Twp. H.S. District 214
Superintendent Dr. David Schuler[1]
Principal Angela Sisi[2]
Staff 248
Grades 9–12
Gender coed
Enrollment 1,900[3]
Average class size 20.6[3]
Campus suburban
School color(s)      royal blue
     athletic gold
     white[4]
Athletics conference Mid-Suburban League
Nickname Wildcats[4]
Average ACT scores 22.3.[5]
Publication Circus[6]
Newspaper Spokesman
Yearbook Lair[7]
TV station WCAT[8]
Website http://whs.d214.org/

Wheeling High School, or WHS, is a public four-year high school located in Wheeling, Illinois, a northwest suburb of Chicago, Illinois, in the United States. It is part of Township High School District 214, which also includes Buffalo Grove High School, Elk Grove High School, John Hersey High School, Prospect High School, and Rolling Meadows High School. The school serves the communities of Wheeling, Prospect Heights, Arlington Heights, and Buffalo Grove, along with a small portion of Mount Prospect. As of 2013, Wheeling High School is ranked the 817th best high school in the nation and the 30th best high school in Illinois, according to U.S. News & World Report.[9]

Feeder schools

Feeder schools include London Middle School, Holmes Middle School, MacArthur Middle School, and River Trails Middle School. Some students from nearby private schools, such as St. Alphonsus Liguori, Saint Emily's Catholic School, St. Mary's School, and St. James, matriculate to WHS, too.

History

Wheeling High School (WHS) first opened in 1964. The class of 1966 was the first graduating class from Wheeling High School. As of 2009, it has a total enrollment of 1,869 students and a 98.8% parent involvement rate. The average class size is 19.9 students for every one teacher. The current principal is Mrs. Angela Sisi. WHS's school colors are blue, gold, and white, and the mascot is Willie the Wildcat. During the 2010–2011 school year, WHS was due to get their name changed to Wheeling High School Math, Science, Technology Academy and add the STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) program to the school, but after several debates about the topic, the board of education and superintendent decided not to change the name of the school.

Academics

As of 2013, Wheeling High School boasts a 90% graduation rate and a mere 2.6% dropout rate.[10] Wheeling High School graduates have been accepted to highly selective postgraduate options, such as Harvard University, Yale University, Princeton University, Brown University, Northwestern University, The University of Chicago, University of Notre Dame, Georgetown University, Boston College, The United States Military Academy at West Point, New York University, Georgia Institute of Technology, and Tulane University.[5] WHS has a mean composite ACT score of 22.3, as of 2012. Approximately 85% of Wheeling High School certified staff holds a degree at or above the master's degree level.

Wheeling High School offers over 215 different courses, 22 of which are at the AP level. The academic departments at Wheeling High School are grouped as follows: math/science, career and technology education, English/fine arts, PE/health/dance/drivers' education, foreign language/social studies/ESL/ELL, NJROTC, and special education. The following AP courses are offered at Wheeling High School: Language & Composition, Literature & Composition, Calculus AB, Calculus BC, Statistics, Computer Science, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Environmental Science, Spanish Language & Culture, Spanish Literature & Culture, French Language & Culture, Italian Language & Culture, Human Geography, World History, United States History, Government & Politics, Psychology, Economics, Studio Art, and Music Theory.

Athletics

Wheeling High School competes in the Mid-Suburban League (MSL) East Division. Wheeling is also a member of the Illinois High School Association (IHSA), which governs most of the interscholastic sports and competitive activities in Illinois. Wheeling High School teams are stylized as the Wildcats.

The school sponsors interscholastic sports teams for young men and women in basketball, cross country, golf, soccer, swimming & diving, tennis, track & field, volleyball, and water polo. Young men may compete in baseball, football, and wrestling, while young women may compete in bowling, cheerleading, gymnastics, badminton and softball.[11]

The girls' cross-country teams won IHSA state championships in 1979-80, 83-84, 84-85, and 86-87.[12] The boys' cross-country team won a state championship in 1998-99.[12]

Activities

Wheeling HS sponsors 61 clubs and activities for students, ranging from the arts and literature to cultural and community service. The list can change from year to year, but can be found at this site.

Among the activities are chapters or affiliates with the following national organizations: DECA<>, SADD, Science Olympiad, and the National Honor Society.[13]

WildStang is a robotics team composed of students from Rolling Meadows High School, Prospect High School and Wheeling High School. The team, partnered with Motorola, won the 2006 Championship Chairman's Award at the FIRST Championship Event. WildStang has also won the FIRST Championship Event in 2003 with team 469 from Bloomfield Hills, Michigan and team 65 from Pontiac, Michigan. WildStang went undefeated and won the 2009 FIRST Championships with team 67 of Milford, Michigan, and team 971 from Mountain View, California. Wildstang won the 2011 FIRST Championships with team 254 and Team 973. The WildStang FTC team, "MiniStang", has won the 2007, 2008, and 2009 Illinois State Championship with an undefeated record.

Wheeling High School's congressional debate team is also one of its most prominent clubs. The team has won 10 out of the last 15 ICDA state titles; in that period, no other school has won more than once. The team has long been coached by Mike Hurley, English teacher.

Another Prominent club at Wheeling High School, is its Orchesis team. The team has gone to the National High School Dance Festival 4 time in the last 8 years. Wheeling High School's Orchesis team has also gone to state several times in its history. Orchesis sponsor is Diane Rawlison, Dance teacher and recipient of the 2014 Ruth Page Award.

Notable alumni

References

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